Fantasy sports league pre-draft logic method

ABSTRACT

A method of selecting players for a fantasy sports league team before and during a fantasy sport league draft, comprising the steps of selecting a player, assigning a logic rule to the player, the logic rule defining at least one condition that governs if and when the player will be drafted during the fantasy sports league draft; and repeating the steps of selecting a player and assigning a logic rule for additional players.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority benefit of U.S. provisional patentapplication No. 60/603,035 filed on Aug. 20, 2004.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to a fantasy sports league game in whichparticipants act as “coaches” or “owners” to form their own clubs orteams from active league professional sports and in which participantcoaches are rewarded based upon the actual performance of the players ontheir teams in real life games. More particularly, the presentdisclosure relates to the player selection aspect of fielding a fantasysports team.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Fantasy sports league games are well known. Generally, in such games,participants select, or “draft” currently active real-life athletes toform fantasy teams. A participant's success or failure in the gamecorresponds to the performance of the players in real-life games. Suchgames are often referred to as “rotisserie leagues.” Owners of suchfantasy teams often compete head to head against each of the other teamsin the league, the winner being determined by which team's playersperformed better the previous week.

Instantaneous communications technology allows people to participate infantasy games in real time. Various communications networks includingthe Internet, intranets, wide area networks, and the like can be usedfor “live drafting.” Live drafting describes the situation wherebymultiple participants in a league are able to select players from afantasy league player pool and view player selections in real-time.

Pre-ranking and player selection queues are known. They exist in nearlyevery drafting tool. Player selection queues have typically been limitedto sorting of players by a ranked list developed by the order ofpreference of the fantasy participant. The ranked list sets the order ofplayers drafted, and the next available player is selected, regardlessof how well that player meets the needs of the drafting team.

One example of a known fantasy pre-ranking and player selection queue isprovided at www.antsports.com, which offers a very limited form ofpredraft player selection. Participants rank players in a pre-draft listbefore the draft, and also have the ability to re-rank players for eachindividual round of a draft. However, the participant has to include thesame player in each modified predraft list for all subsequent rounds.For instance, when drafting for football players, adding a kicker to the10th round predraft list, but not on a subsequent lists for a subsequentround, would result in the kicker only being automatically selected inthe 10th round. Generally, fantasy drafts can last for several hours,and for many rounds, and it can be quite tedious to re-rank players theway Antsports requires it to be done. It would be desirable to providepre-draft player selection criteria that reduced the amount of timeneeded to create and monitor player lists.

Moreover, using ranked lists can be disadvantageous for severaladditional reasons. These include inadvertently selecting a playerearlier than desired or drafting too many players at the same positions,for example, in a football fantasy draft, drafting three kickers. Itwould be desirable to have a pre-selection tool that is superior toranked lists to account for these disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with a first aspect, a method of selecting players for afantasy sports league team before and during a fantasy sports leaguedraft comprises the steps of selecting a player, assigning a logic ruleto the player, the logic rule defining at least one condition thatgoverns if and when the player will be drafted during the fantasy sportsleague draft, and repeating the steps of selecting a player andassigning a logic rule to the player for additional players. Inaccordance with another aspect, a computer processor and a computerprogram, when used in combination with a general purpose computer,operate that computer to provide the method described above.

From the foregoing disclosure and the following more detaileddescription of various preferred embodiments it will be apparent tothose skilled in the art that the present invention provides asignificant advance in the technology and art of player selection infantasy sports leagues. Particularly significant in this regard is thepotential the invention affords for providing an efficient and flexiblemethod of selecting players for fantasy teams. Additional features andadvantages of various preferred embodiments will be better understood inview of the detailed description provided below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified flow diagram of a method of defining a predraftlist and applying predraft logic intended for use in selecting playersfor a fantasy sports team in accordance with a preferred embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a screenshot of an interface for building a predraft list andassigning predraft logic for a fantasy sports draft in accordance withthe preferred embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a simplified flow diagram of a method of editing a pre-draftlist with player logic.

FIG. 4 is a simplified flow diagram of a method of removing a logic rulefrom a player in a pre-draft list.

FIG. 5 is a simplified flow diagram of a method of editing pre-draftlogic during a fantasy sports league draft.

FIG. 6 is a simplified diagrammatic view of a system for providingpre-draft logic to a fantasy sport league draft.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a method of performing a draft usingpre-draft logic rules.

FIG. 8 is a screenshot of an interface for conducting a fantasy sportsdraft.

FIG. 9 is the screenshot of FIG. 8 with a floating draft interfaceactivated.

It should be understood that the appended drawings are not necessarilyto scale, presenting a somewhat simplified representation of variouspreferred features illustrative of the basic principles of theinvention. The specific design features of the method of selectingplayers for fantasy teams as disclosed here will be determined in partby the particular intended application and use environment. Certainfeatures of the illustrated embodiments have been enlarged or distortedrelative to others for visualization and clear understanding. Inparticular, thin features may be thickened, for example, for clarity ofillustration. All references to direction and position, unless otherwiseindicated, refer to the orientation illustrated in the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art, that is, to those whohave knowledge or experience in this area of technology, that many usesand design variations are possible for the method of selecting playersfor a fantasy draft disclosed here. The following detailed discussion ofvarious alternative and preferred features and embodiments willillustrate the general principles of the invention with reference to afantasy draft for a professional sports team, such as a professionalfootball team. Other embodiments suitable for other applications,including fantasy drafts for other professional and amateur sportsteams, will be apparent to those skilled in the art given the benefit ofthis disclosure.

The present method is used for selecting and managing players for afantasy sports league team before and during a fantasy sport leaguedraft. Fantasy sports leagues are simulated leagues in whichparticipants draft players for their simulated team. Typically theplayers are drafted in a series of rounds where each team drafts oneplayer per round. Fantasy sports leagues are available for a widevariety of sports, including but not limited to professional football,baseball, basketball, hockey, auto racing, soccer, and other sports. Afantasy sport league will have number of participants, one or more ofwhich is associated with each fantasy team. Each fantasy team is made upof a number of drafted players. The players may be actual professionalsports athletes whose past statistics and ongoing statistics are readilyavailable.

The fantasy league is a competition among the participants to select andmanage a team of drafted players over the course of the fantasy season,which typically corresponds to the duration of a season for thecorresponding professional sport. Participants score “points” or haveother performance measures, based on the performance of each team'splayers or group of players. Statistics related to each selected playerare readily available from a variety of sources, including newspapers,statistic reporting companies, team web sites, and other sources. Thereis therefore an incentive to draft the players that will have the bestperformance over the course of the season.

The player selection process at the beginning of each season is referredto as a draft. The draft is an equitable process that allows eachparticipant to select players. A typical draft occurs in a series ofrounds during which each participant is allowed to make one or moreselections. Known methods of drafting players allow a participant todevelop a ranked order of players for the draft, so that the participantneed not be present at each step. That is, management software for thedraft will automatically draft players in accordance with theparticipant's list. In accordance with a highly advantageous feature,the present method goes beyond mere pre-draft ranking of players and byproviding pre-draft or pre-round logic that allows the participant toadd more conditions, referred to collectively herein as logic rules, togovern how players are drafted.

Turning now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows the initial steps in thepre-draft logic method made prior to the fantasy player draft. Thepresent method may be performed using a common browser interface. Instep 10, a participant using a web browser enabled computing device,logs onto the fantasy sports league management website. The loginprocess identifies which fantasy team is owned/controlled by theparticipant. In step 12, a team page associated with the participant'sfantasy team is selected. Next, the participant makes a selection toindicate the participant's desire to use the predraft interface, such asby clicking on a “Predraft Link” (step 14). An example of a web-based,pre-draft interface is shown in FIG. 2. Interface 18, shown in the formof browser or web-based interface may include a number of sectionsincluding a player search query section 20, a player browse section 22,a player detail section 24, a player selection section 26, a playerselection logic section 28, and selected players section 30.

Player search query section 20 allows a participant to input a searchquery. A player's name is typed into query box 32 after which a searchlink is clicked to activate a search. Players' names matching the queryare displayed in a player selection section 26. Player browse section 22allows a participant to find all players associated with a particularposition. For example, positions 34 for football are shown which includequarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, kicker, defensiveteam, linebacker, defensive lineman, defensive back, or “all players,”which would show players for all positions. Positions 34 would of coursebe different for each sport, and such positions will be readily apparentto those skilled in the art given the benefit of this disclosure. “Flex”positions may also be selected. Flex positions are fantasy positionscomprised of multiple root positions. For example, an offensive flexposition can contain a running back, a wide receiver or a tight end.

Player selection section 26 may also include a set of links 36corresponding to letters that when clicked operate to only show playernames starting with the selected letter. A set of option links 38 mayalso be included to limit the player names shown to a particular rankedsubset, such as the top 15 or top 50 players. The criteria for how aplayer is attributed to be within these categories can be based on anumber of factors including stats, popularity, published rankings, andother factors. Selecting a particular player causes that player'sinformation 40 to be shown in player detail section 24. Information 40may include, for example, the player's name, position, team, and whattheir bye week will be. Historical and/or projected stats may also beavailable or a message 42 indicating that no stats are available whichmay occur, for example, if the player is a rookie or otherwise did notgenerate statistics in the previous year.

Selected players are added to a predraft list 44 where each player canbe moved up and down using rank toggle buttons 46, or the player's namecan be dragged and dropped to a different location within the list ofplayers. The list may also show each player's bye week 48 which can beused for a logic rule as noted below. Associated with each player is arules link 50 which shows if a rule has been assigned to the player.When a rule is assigned, such as by clicking the rules link 50, playerselection logic section 28 may become active for that player allowingthe participant to assign one or more conditions or rules controlling ifand when the selected player is to be drafted. Selected player section30 also includes a delete player button 51 associated with each playerthat allows a participant to click or otherwise select button 51 toremove an associated player from pre-draft list 44.

Player selection logic section 28 includes a player name reference 52and may include a number of different logic rules that govern the draftprogression. A first logic rule 54 is shown to be a choice for theplayer to not be drafted before a selected round. This can be displayedon the website with the phrase “Do NOT draft player before round” placedadjacent to a drop down menu or text box for selecting a particularround. The participant can develop rules using the dialogs shown andactivate the developed rule by checking the apply box 56 to the left ofthat rule. It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art,given the benefit of this disclosure, that the relative positioning ofeach of the elements in the player selection logic portion 28, and amongthe other sections can be switched around or repositioned in anysuitable manner.

A second logic rule 58 controls the draft progression to not draft aparticular player on the list 44 if the participant's roster of draftedplayers already contains a certain number 60 of players at a selectedposition 62. For example, “RB” is shown as the selected position 62,although any other position or abbreviation for a position for theselected sport may be shown.

A third rule 64, which may referred to as “handcuffing”, provides that aselected player only be drafted if another player is already on theroster. Appropriate instructions 66 may be shown adjacent to aparticular rule, such as the instructions 66 shown in FIG. 2, remindingthe participant that “(Handcuffed players must both be in predraft listto establish handcuff)”. It is also envisioned that a condition or rulecan be developed and assigned to more than one player in a single orrelatively few actions.

Other logic rules may be included on the website and used in the methoddisclosed herein. For example, a fourth logic rule can comprise draftinga player unless another player already on a team of drafted players andat the same position as the selected player does not play at the sametime the selected player does not play. This can be important inprofessional football, for example, where teams have a bye week.

A fifth rule can comprise choosing to cancel a logic rule after apredetermined round of drafts.

A sixth rule can comprise drafting a player only if other teams ofpreviously drafted players have selected a predetermined number ofplayers at the same position as the selected player. For example, if 6tight ends have been drafted cumulatively by all teams, then aparticipant could structure his logic rules so that a tight end would beelevated in priority in the rounds of the draft. Use of these logicrules saves significant time for the participant and allows theparticipant to leave the draft from time to time, confident that theirpreferred players will be drafted. Other logic rules will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art given the benefit of thisdisclosure

Referring back to FIG. 1, the interface 18 of FIG. 2, may be used toperform the steps of adding players from a main list to a pre-draft list(step 16), specifying an overall rank or preference for players withinthe draft list (step 65), and assigning a predraft logic ruleindividually or in combination to a player (step 68). For purposes ofthis invention, the pre-rank order set by the participant is not a logicrule as that initial setup is inputted by a participant without anylimitation beyond the initial order set by the participant. Followingselection of players and assigning selected players logic rules, thepredraft list and selected rules can be saved (step 70) into a database(described below).

FIG. 3 shows steps that can be used to edit predraft logic after theinitial predraft list is created. After logging in 10, selecting theappropriate team page 12, and clicking the predraft link 14, theparticipant is again presented with interface 18 where the participantcan manipulate the overall rank for players in the list using toggles 46(step 74) and adjusting logic rules in logic rule section 28 (step 76).The revised settings are saved to the database (step 70). Logic rulesmay be edited or deleted for any player at any time. Further, logicrules may be applied to groups of players simultaneously. An examplewould include selecting multiple players at the same position andapplying the logic rules simultaneously.

FIG. 4 shows steps used to remove a player or remove predraft logicassociated with a particular player. After logging in 10, selecting theappropriate team page 12, and clicking the predraft link 14, theparticipant can select a player from the predraft list (step 78). Anoption is presented 80 to either remove the player entirely, such as byclicking player delete button 51 (step 82), or to remove the associationbetween a logic rule and the player such as by clicking on the ruleslink 50 and then un-checking one or more rules using boxes 56 (step 84).After the player and or logic rule has been removed, the revisedsettings and/or pre-draft list are saved to the database (step 70).

After the participant has defined their pre-draft list and assignedselected logic rules to particular players, the draft can take placeautomatically relying on the list order and logic rules to determinewhich players to select when a participant's turn in the draft comesaround. Interface 18 may be used during the live draft as shown in FIG.5, or merely used to set up pre-draft logic rules for a later draft. Aparticipant enters the draft room, which may a virtual room on a website or the like (step 86). Before or during the draft, the participantcan select a player (step 88), and manipulate the logic rulesindividually or in combination for the selected player (step 90). Aplayer may wish to adjust a rule mid-draft for any number of reasons,and the present interface provides that option, a dramatic improvementover fully automated list-based draft programs that fail to provide suchflexibility. Finally, changes are saved to the database (step 92).

If no players are available given the participant's logic rules, thenoptionally, the software method can choose a default ranking. Thedefault rankings can be set by the participant, by reference to a thirdparty's database ranking of players, or by a default ranking of playersstored in the database of the provider of the method disclosed herein.

FIG. 6 shows a simplified diagrammatic view of a network 94 havingcomponents that may be used to perform the above-described method.Network 94 includes a database 96. Any database 96 may be usedincluding, by way of example, but not limitation, mySQL from MySQL, Inc.(also available through open source licensing programs). Database 96 isshown as one component, although database 96 may be comprised of anumber of separate files, databases, relational databases, interfaces,and other software modules. The term “module” referenced in thisdisclosure is meant to broadly cover various types of software codeincluding but not limited to routines, functions, objects, libraries,classes, members, packages, procedures, methods, or lines of codetogether performing similarly to these types of coding.

Database 96 may be in communication with or hosted on a host computer orserver 98. Server 98 may be a general purpose computer loaded withserver hosting software or be configured in a proprietary serverconfiguration. Server 98 is further configured to allow communication toparticipants over a communications network such as the Internet 100,such as by providing a web server such as Apache/Tomcat available asopen source software and/or from the Apache Software Foundation. Othermodules that provide TCP/IP based communications with standard webbrowsers, such as Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator may be used aswell. Participants can log into and manipulate their information ondatabase 96, as well as monitor the results of the draft using computingdevices, such a personal digital assistance 102, a general purposecomputer 104, a laptop 106, or a cell phone having a browser interface.

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic view of a method of selecting and draftingplayers using logic rules in the course of the actual draft. Aparticipant enters a draft room application (step 110), such as byspecifying a URL in the participant's Internet browser. Log ininformation, such as entering a user name and password, may be performedusing known authentication protocols. Contact is made by theparticipant's computing device 104 over the communications network 100,to the host computer 98 to access participant's team data in database96. Using a selection interface, such as interface 18 shown in FIG. 2,the participant can place the team on auto select (automated selection)or “miss a pick” (manual selection) (step 112). If auto select isselected, in step 114, the application selects the next available, notyet selected, player on user's pre-draft list. If the next playersatisfies all assigned logic rules (step 116) and basic rosterlimitations (i.e. maximum 3 players at position QB), the player isselected and added to the user's team (step 118). If there are moreplayers in the predraft list (step 122), the remaining players areconsecutively tested against the logic rule. If no players satisfy theirassociated rule(s), the computer makes an automatic selection on behalfof the participant or user (step 124) from the set of remainingavailable players, or if no players are available based on establishedlogic rules, may pick randomly from the otherwise available players. Inthis case, the participant may also be prompted to manually make aplayer selection. Alternatively, the computer can mark the pick as“skipped” and advance to the next draft pick. The participant who missedhis pick may be allowed to come back and pick late for a predeterminedamount of rounds.

FIG. 8 shows a fantasy sports drafting interface 128 that may be used inconnection with the present method. Interface 128 includes a team draftprogression section 129 that indicates the order of the draft and has acell for each draft slot. Each cell includes a team name 130, the roundand pick number within that round 132, and player information if player134 has been selected. The current pick 136 may be highlighted orotherwise shown to be active. Interface 128 also includes a navigationbar 138 and countdown timer 140 showing an amount of time remaining forthe current pick. Player selection section 142 shows information aboutthe remaining players and allows searching and filtering by criteria.Current pick information section 144 shows information about the currentteam. As shown in FIG. 9, a floating draft logic interface 147 may beprovided to allow a participant to adjust draft logic assigned to aplayer or players. FIG. 9 does not show the pre-draft logic. Interface128 may also include a pre-draft list 148, which may include an autoselect button 150 to toggle between automatic and manual selection ofplayers. The auto select option indicates to others that the participantis away from the computer and shortens the time allotted for drafting aplayer. For example, the time may be shortened from 1-2 minutes in anormal draft to 13 seconds.

Interface 128 may also be provided with a selected player informationsection 152 that includes details about each position that needs to befilled and how many players have already been selected in the variouspositions. Interface 128 may also include a text messaging section 154for sending a message to draft participants or others. One or morecontrol buttons 156 (shown in FIG. 8) may also be used to access otheroptions, help, and other player, team, or draft information. Icon 157may be used to toggle the audio on and off. Indicator 159 mayadvantageously be used to indicate the status of the logic rules withrespect to a given player. For example, the indicator may change colorscorresponding to a given status, such as gray when a player is notavailable for drafting, red when a player is available but logic ruleshave not been applied to the player, and green for when the player isavailable and has had logic rules applied.

The software modules loaded on a computing device may also be loadedonto a computer media, such as a CD-ROM, floppy disc, DVD or otherstorage media. The software modules may also be made available as a filedownload or operate as a plug-in to a browser, or be delivered as aweb-based or ASP application. The software module may also be written ordelivered via the Flash product from Macromedia, Inc.

It is envisioned that the present method and computer software productmay also be used in connection with interactive restaurant or sports barentertainment systems such as the iTV Network available from NTNCommunications, Inc. Live predrafting and drafting can thus be performedin sports bars or restaurants. The present method and computer programproduct can also be used in casinos where fantasy leagues are popular.

From the foregoing disclosure and detailed description of certainpreferred embodiments, it will be apparent that various modifications,additions and other alternative embodiments are possible withoutdeparting from the true scope and spirit of the invention. Theembodiments discussed were chosen and described to provide the bestillustration of the principles of the invention and its practicalapplication to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to usethe invention in various embodiments and with various modifications asare suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modificationsand variations are within the scope of the invention as determined bythe appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth towhich they are fairly, legally, and equitably entitled.

1. A method of selecting players for a fantasy sports league team beforeand during a fantasy sport league draft, comprising in combination, thesteps of: (a) selecting a player; (b) assigning a logic rule to theplayer, the logic rule defining at least one condition that governs ifand when the player will be drafted during the fantasy sports leaguedraft; and repeating steps (a) and (b) for additional players.
 2. Themethod of selecting players for a fantasy sports league team accordingto claim 1 wherein the logic rule comprises drafting a player only aftera preselected round.
 3. The method of selecting players for a fantasysports league team according to claim 1 wherein each player has aposition, and the logic rule comprises drafting a selected player unlessa team of previously drafted players already contains a predeterminednumber of players at the same position as the selected player.
 4. Themethod of selecting players for a fantasy sports league team accordingto claim 1 wherein the logic rule comprises drafting a player only if apredetermined previously drafted player is already on a team of playersdrafted.
 5. The method of selecting players for a fantasy sports leagueteam according to claim 1 wherein each player has a position, and thelogic rule comprises drafting a player unless another player already ona team of drafted players and at the same position as the selectedplayer does not play at the same time the selected player does not play.6. The method of selecting players for a fantasy sports league teamaccording to claim 1 wherein the logic rule comprises choosing to cancela logic rule after one of a predetermined round and a predeterminednumber of rounds.
 7. The method of selecting players for a fantasysports league team according to claim 1 wherein each player has aposition, and the logic rule comprises drafting a player only if otherteams of previously drafted players have selected a predetermined numberof players at the same position as the selected player.
 8. The method ofselecting players for a fantasy sports league team according to claim 1further comprising applying the logic rule to a grouping of players. 9.The method of claim 8 wherein the grouping of players comprises playersgrouped by position.
 10. The method of selecting players for a fantasysports league team according to claim 1 wherein the logic rule can beedited both prior to and during the draft.
 11. The method of selectingplayers for a fantasy sports league team according to claim 1 whereineach teams is managed by a participant, and further comprising an autoselect option, which indicates to other participants that a participantis away from the participant's computer.
 12. The method of claim 11wherein the auto select option reduces the amount of time theparticipant has for a round of a draft.